6 main symptoms of Crohn’s disease (with online test)

Crohn’s disease can cause symptoms such as persistent diarrhea, blood and/or mucus in the stool, abdominal pain and an urgent urge to defecate, and it is common for the person to wake up during the night to have a bowel movement.

The symptoms of Crohn’s disease usually appear for periods, known as “flares”, and then tend to disappear completely, until a new crisis occurs.

Crohn’s disease is an inflammatory bowel disease, which must be diagnosed by a gastroenterologist through evaluation of symptoms and imaging tests, such as colonoscopy. Learn more about Crohn’s disease.

Main symptoms

The main symptoms of Crohn’s disease are:

1. Persistent diarrhea

Diarrhea caused by Crohn’s disease happens when the disease affects the small intestine or colon. Typically, diarrhea lasts more than 4 weeks and can also happen at night, causing the person to have to wake up to go to the bathroom.

It is common to have mucus or blood mixed in the stool with Crohn’s disease due to damage to the wall of the gastrointestinal tract, especially when the disease affects the wall of the colon. Check out other causes of blood in the stool.

3. Sudden urge to have a bowel movement

Sometimes, Crohn’s disease can cause a sudden urge to have a bowel movement, which is more common when inflammation develops in the rectum, which is the final part of the digestive system.

4. Dor abdominal

Abdominal pain in case of Crohn’s disease is more common on the right side and in the lower part of the abdomen and usually happens when the disease affects the small intestine or colon. See more causes of abdominal pain.

5. Weight loss

Weight loss caused by Crohn’s disease usually occurs due to lack of appetite, loss of blood in the stool, diarrhea and difficulty absorbing nutrients due to inflammation, and is more common when the disease affects the small intestine.

6. Fever

Sometimes, inflammation in Crohn’s disease can cause a fever above 38°C. Furthermore, especially when other symptoms appear, such as pain during bowel movements or a feeling of a lump in the anal region, fever may indicate complications such as anorectal abscess. Find out what anorectal abscess is and its symptoms.

Online symptom test

If you think you may have Crohn’s disease, select your symptoms and find out what your chances are:

The symptom test is only a diagnostic tool and does not serve as a diagnosis or replace a consultation with a gastroenterologist.

How to confirm the diagnosis

To confirm the diagnosis, the gastroenterologist or general practitioner takes into account the symptoms present, the person’s and family’s health history, as well as test results such as colonoscopy, which allows signs of inflammation in the intestinal wall to be identified.

Furthermore, during a colonoscopy it is common for the doctor to take a small sample of the intestinal wall so that it can be analyzed. Understand how colonoscopy is performed.

Sometimes, upper digestive endoscopy may also be indicated, especially when there are symptoms that indicate inflammation in the esophagus or stomach, magnetic resonance imaging or computed tomography, for example.

How the treatment is carried out

Crohn’s disease has no cure, however treatment usually involves medications, such as corticosteroids, immunosuppressants and immunomodulators, to control symptoms and prevent attacks.

In addition, measures such as reducing the amount of fat and dairy products in the diet are also recommended to alleviate the symptoms of Crohn’s disease. Find out what the Crohn’s disease diet is like.

Especially in more serious cases, surgery may be indicated to remove parts of the intestine severely affected by inflammation that may be causing symptoms.